FIRST PHASE OF LUNAR EXPLORATION COMPLETED:

APOLLO ASSUMES ITS FINAL FORM:

As budgets tightened and public support for lunar missions faltered in
1970, NASA managers faced tough choices. On the one hand, the successful
Apollo exploration missions had given lunar scientists an appetite for
more and more samples - more, in fact, than even the six missions
remaining on the schedule were likely to provide. Against that stood the
need to get moving on post-Apollo programs, the first of which (Skylab)
had reached a stage where it required substantial funds to stay on
schedule. Given the unpalatable alternatives, NASA chose to cut back on
lunar exploration and apply the savings to its future.1

1. U.S. Congress, House Committee on
Science and Astronautics, 1971 NASA Authorization, Hearings
on H.R. 15695, 91/2, Feb. 1970, vol. 1, pp. 2-38; W. David Compton and
Charles D. Benson, Living and Working in Space: A History of
Skylab, NASA SP-4208 (Washington, 1983), pp. 115-16.